Our Engagement Session

April 2011. It was time. Time for me to start looking for the photographer that would capture one of the most important days in our lives. Sure, it was a little early, but when did being ahead of schedule ever hurt anyone? Never. I had a very short list of who I wanted that person to be. After the first couple of emails I sent, I became a bit discouraged. The photographers I contacted either responded with a mile long questionnaire to fill out (which is fine, but I wanted something more personal) or completely ignored me after I let them know I was starting my photography career! What was the world coming to? It felt like a bad joke! I was finally looking for my wedding photographer…something I had been so excited to do for so long and I was quickly let down. Let down so much that I stopped looking altogether.

A few weeks later, I tuned in to watch the uber fab Jasmine Star’screativeLIVE workshop. This is where I found CandiceI sat in my bedroom and read a few of her blog posts. She was funny, loved zombies, and had a quirky charm about her, not to mention her images were beautiful! I sent her an email and a few weeks later we were laughing over sushi like old friends. Since then, I’ve had the chance to assist her at countless weddings (something I will be forever grateful for), and she’ll be photographing our wedding in November…OBVI!

Last month, Tony and I met with Candice to have our engagement photos taken. Days leading up to our session…I was a nervous wreck! I mean, I’m the one supposed to be behind the camera, not in front of it! But, once we started shooting all of those nerves disappeared and we had a blast! We spent the day in a dreamy location complete with beautiful trees, amazing rolling hills, and we even saw Bambi a few times . We laughed until we cried, we hiked up the rolling hills (extra points go to ME for doing it in heels), and Tony and I got to cuddle and make out all day! Oh, and I forgot to mention I had almost had a panic attack! Tony nominated me to do solo shots first. So, there I was. Standing at the top of the hill alone, trying to channel my inner Tyra Banks, and then I heard it…RATTLING!!!!

“Did you guys hear that??!!!”

“Hear what?”

“THAT!!”

“Oh, those are just insects. If that was a rattle snake the rattling wouldn’t stop.”

“IF?!”

The only thing running through my mind? If-I-get-bit-I’m-gonna-die-and-we’re-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-aaahhhhh! This all happened in a matter of 2 minutes *in front of the camera*.

Besides my near death experience, I couldn’t have asked for a better day. During our intermittent cuddling/making out…we had the chance to just be. All of the wedding planning craziness vanished along with everything else including Candice and her camera. There, in that moment, in such a gorgeous place, it was just me and my future husband. We remembered what we were there for and we had the chance to soak it all in, together. It was absolutely perfect.